Confidant Relations of the Aged (original) (raw)
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Perception of middle aged adults regarding emotional closeness with their siblings
2010
The present investigation was an exploratory attempt to examine the emotional closeness od middle aged adults with their siblings. Gender differences regarding emotional closeness in sibling dyad compositions were computed using ttest. A representative sample of 120, married middle aged adults (40-60yrs), belonging to Hindu nuclear families having at least one living biological sibling between the age difference of 1-4 years were selected from Udaipur city of Rajasthan state of India. Adult-Sibling Relationship Scale (ASRS) was developed, standardized and used. The comfort, security, closeness and concern were assessed on the dimension of (ASRS) i.e emotional closeness. The results of the study revealed that higher percentage of females as compared to males had a feeling of security by the presence of siblings in their lives and they felt close to their sibling. Regarding the extent of concern, majority of subjects found their sibling to be least interested in their lives. In case o...
Ageing and …, 2009
"The current study describes from an attachment-theoretical viewpoint how intergenerational support in adult child-parent relationships is associated with wellbeing in both generations. The attachment perspective and its focus on affective relationship characteristics is considered as an important theoretical framework for the investigation of special relationships across the life span. Data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N=1,456 dyads) were analysed to investigate if relationship quality moderated the association between providing intergenerational support to parents and wellbeing in adult children, on the one hand, and receiving intergenerational support from children and wellbeing of older parents on the other hand. The perspectives of both relationship partners were taken into account to allow for dependence within dyads. Intergenerational support, in terms of instrumental help provision, was negatively associated with the child’s and parent’s wellbeing. Being the stronger and wiser partner in adult child parent relationships, as reflected by giving advice and being the initiator within the relationship, was beneficial for the wellbeing of both generations.Additionally, relationship quality was the strongest predictor of wellbeing in both generations. Parental wellbeing was benefited by filial support in high quality relationships. If an intergenerational relationships was of high quality, the challenges of intergenerational support provision and receipt were easier to deal with for both generations, parents and children."
Intergenerational Support Networks and Wellbeing in Old Age
Standard of Living, Wellbeing, and Community Development, 2021
Family is the main informal support system for the older population. Focusing on social network types, the chapter discusses the relevance of family-centered networks, restricted and diverse networks for wellbeing, and psychosocial risk in the aging process. Social network types and social support effectiveness are also pointed out as good predictors of health, mental health, and social or community participation. Familistic cultures represent different demands on informal support and social care, bringing enormous importance to the heiresses generations. Interpersonal relationships between generations are fueled by reciprocity in support throughout the life cycle. Intergenerationality closes its cycle when the offspring support their parents in older ages. Normativity in this cycle is broken with childlessness, which is less and less exceptional today. The emphasis on family ties in social care and the childless population's increase transform future support expectations, challenging societies.
Grandparenthood and the Changing Nature of Social Relationships
Encyclopedia of Geropsychology, 2015
In this current entry, grandparenthood is defined as the role that older people play as grandparents in a family. Social relationships are associated with subjective physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood. As they age though, they experience changes in their preferences for social partners and the composition of their social network. In this entry, they first introduce age-related changes in social relationships in terms of their closeness and type. Then, they focus on a relationship that is particularly prevalent and important in older adulthood, i.e., grandparenthood. They discuss factors that may influence the meaning of grandparenthood and grandparenting behaviors, focusing specifically on gender and culture, and the outcomes of grandparenthood. Age Differences in Social Relationships Number of Relationships In the aging literature, studies consistently find that the number of social partners shrinks with age (Zhang et al. 2011), with research suggesting this is not simply due to functional losses and mortality (Lang and Carstensen 1994). Despite the change, subjective well-being in older adulthood does not appear to suffer by the decrease in the number of social partners. In fact, subjective well-being tends to increase with age (Carstensen et al. 1995). Two reasons may explain this phenomenon. First, older adults may enjoy being alone more than do younger adults. For instance, Larson et al. (1985) found that older adults reported a greater sense of control when alone. A study by Lang and Baltes (1997) extended the aforementioned idea by considering the effect of context when older participants were alone. They found that the older old (i.e., those aged 85-103 years) felt the highest sense of autonomy with the least social contacts when they were facing difficulties in everyday life. The authors interpreted the results as a compensation mechanism, in which being alone in daily activities may allow older adults to maintain autonomous functioning and still spend time with people in other daily activities. The above studies speak to the idea that aloneness in old age may not be as detrimental as conventionally believed. This argument might be particularly true for people from independent cultural backgrounds. In independent cultures, when people get older, they are less likely to attribute their loneliness to personal deficits (e.g., lack of pleasant personal characteristics) than do people in interdependent cultures. A study conducted by Rokach and Neto (2005) found that Canadians, who were from an independent culture, adjusted better in a lonely situation than their Portuguese counterparts, a group who was
American Journal of Community Psychology, 1991
The rationale and problems encountered in implementing a peer-support telephone intervention are described. The research conducted by Heller, was based on epidemiological literature documenting the morale enhancing value of confidante relationships. However, that literature may be insufficiently precise to form the basis for an intervention without prior ethnographic study of the local target population. Furthermore, the positive effects of peer friendships may refer to long esstablished relationships rather than to newly formed social ties. It is concluded that future support intervention research with older adults should concentrate on reinforcing meaningful role activities, and that greater attention should be given to strengthening indigenous ties before attempting to create new ones. While prior process research and formative evaluation are of value, we also emphasize the importance of well-controlled field studies in the ultimate test of intervention hypotheses.